dug in new york that will transformtheeconomy. youhave the road under construction from the capital to what is now west virginia. we had a whole debate going on about internal improvements and what the role of the federal government should be and all that. this is a country poised for economic take off. much like a light eisenhower presided -- >> as you work your way, how much evidence is there about elizabeth monroe? >> there is not a lot. based upon what her elder daughter reported, at some point after he left the presidency, monroe burned all personal correspondence. there is one letter that survives that is written by elisabeth. there is one letter from james to her that survived. what baffles me and drives me nuts is there is only one letter she wrote to somebody else. she had extensive correspondence with her sister and friends and these letters do not seem to be anywhere. i do not understand why not. it seems like somebody would have kept some of these. consequently, having firsthand evidence of what she thought about things, we do not have. there are letters monroe wrote to

york that will transformtheeconomy. youhave the road from the capital to west virginia which you have this whole debate about internal improvements and what the role of the federal government should be and all of that. this is a country poised for an economic take off. monroe prosides over it. dan, as you work your way academically through the monroe papers, how much documentary evidence is there about elizabeth monroe? >> unfortunately there is not a lot. based on what her daughter reported was that at some point after he left the presidency monroe burned all personal correspondence. there is one letter that survives that is written by elizabeth. there is one letter from james to her that survives. what baffles me and drives me nuts is there is only one let they're she wrote to somebody else. she had an extensive correspondence with her friends and sisters and these letters aren't anywhere. beyond why not. seems like somebody would have kept some of these. subsequently there is a lot we don't have. there are letters that mon crow wrote to her sons-in-laws that talk about family